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In the early 1960s, Stop & Shop Corp., of Braintree, Mass., purchased a large tract of land on Main Street at the Portland line. The company constructed a large building on the north side of the property to be occupied by a Bradlees store in one half and Martin’s Discount Foods leasing the other half. Tenants occupying a building on the south side of the lot were Cinema City Theatres and Bartlett Radio and TV. The area became known as Westbrook Plaza Shopping Center. Several other tenants leased small space in both of these buildings. Maine National Bank, Lum’s Restaurant and Sofspray car wash also constructed buildings on the site. Cinema City and Bartlett’s went out of business and that building was converted into several smaller shops. Martin’s Foods became Shop & Save, and then Hannaford, which then moved to a new building. Bradlees went out of business and that building remained vacant until some new investors purchased the plaza. The buildings have been renovated and expanded, with Kohl’s and Shaw’s Supermarket as the anchor stores. Other businesses occupy the rest of the plaza, now known as Westbrook Crossing. The photo on the left shows the building on the south side of the plaza (originally Cinema City and Bartlett’s) occupied by several businesses before renovations. On the right is the same area after renovation.

Research and photos courtesy of Mike Sanphy